Chicago WWII vets allowed to visit D.C. memorial

October 02, 2013|By Becca Clemons | Tribune Newspapers

(Reuters)

WASHINGTON — On the second day of the federal government's partial shutdown, 91 veterans from the Chicago area arrived Wednesday at the National World War II Memorial in the capital, unsure whether they would be allowed past barriers set up by the National Park Service.

But as Mary Pettinato, CEO and co-founder of the Honor Flight Chicago group, described it, "the biggest blockade was politicians," and the Park Service allowed the vets to visit the memorial that honors their service seven decades ago.

Sens. Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin of Illinois, along with a slew of Illinois' U.S. representatives and lawmakers from other states, greeted the group, which was allowed to enter "to conduct First Amendment activities." The general public remained barred because of the government shutdown and crowded along the edge of the memorial.

Paul Schneider, Melvin Ehrenreich and Frank Lieber, friends from high school who grew up on Chicago's South Side, flew in together from Midway Airport with Honor Flight Chicago, which is part of a network of more than 100 nonprofit groups across the country that bring veterans to see memorials in the capital.

"I never had so many people thank me for anything," Schneider said about the introduction the group received. He said he was worried that the trip to the memorial might be canceled after hearing the government had shut down.

"I think it was Winston Churchill who said we have the worst form of government, but it's better than everyone else's," Schneider said.

Kirk, a Navy Reserve veteran himself, was helped to his feet from a wheelchair and briefly stood to greet the Illinois veterans.

"I saw Sen. Kirk. He got up to shake hands," Pettinato said. "My vets started crying; I started crying. He got a tear in his eyes. It was powerful."

Kirk said the Park Service did not try to keep the veterans group out, after separate Honor Flight groups on Tuesday moved past barriers to enter the memorial without protest from officials. Six officers guarded the memorial to keep the general public out.

"I talked to one of the guards who was here," Kirk said. "He said he was one of the six who was chosen, and I said, 'Did you pull the short straw?' And I said, 'Thanks for being such a gentleman.'"

Marie Lynch, of Oak Lawn, Ill., a veteran of the WAVES division of the Navy during World War II, attended the memorial for the first time with her husband, Army air forces veteran Mike Lynch.

"They should get together and talk," she said of members of Congress, "and do what's best for the country."

The Park Service's closing plan, put in place after Congress failed to pass a budget and the government shutdown began Tuesday, allows for First Amendment activities, said Carol Johnson, spokeswoman for the National Mall and memorial parks.

"They're being granted the access under that," she said. "The memorial is, however, legally closed to the public. We're asking for cooperation in that."

She did not comment on whether other groups said to be demonstrating First Amendment rights would be allowed in.

The Chicago group, though allowed in the World War II Memorial, had to change its plans for the rest of the day because of the shutdown. The previous itinerary included the Lincoln, Vietnam War and Korean War memorials. Flights are purchased six months in advance for the trips, Pettinato said.

"We're a little disappointed that everything is closed," Ehrenreich said.

Instead, the veterans headed to the Newseum, a privately owned museum on Pennsylvania Avenue.

"We really had to have the chance to see the memorial or it would have been an anti-climactic trip," Pettinato said. "These guys describe that this memorial is their chance to say their goodbyes."